‘The Bar Is waiting’: CJI Kant recalls why he never joined district judicial service

THe sublime margaret court on fri witnessed a rarefied personal bit from Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who recounted how a senior high court judge once dissuaded him from joining the judicial service at the very start of his career, telling him instead that “the Bar is waiting for you.”The anecdote unfolded during the hearing of a plea filed by advocate Prerna Gupta, an Advocate-on-Record (AoR) in the Supreme Court, who sought re-evaluation of a paper in the Delhi Judicial Services examination, alleging alteration of marks.The bench, led by the CJI also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, appeared reluctant to entertain the plea, observing that re-evaluation could ordinarily be permitted only where the governing rules expressly provide for it.When the bench learnt that Gupta was already an AoR practising in the Supreme Court, the CJI asked her: “Then why do you want to become a judicial officer?”The petitioner responded that she intended to appear for the Higher Judicial Services examination in future but had not yet attained the minimum age requirement of 35 years.Also Read: CJI Surya Kant recalls literary upbringing, his love for HindiAt this point, Justice Kant advised her to attempt the higher judicial services examination later, before segueing into a deeply personal recollection from his own early years at the Bar.“Apply for superior judicial services next time. But let me share something, why you should not press this,” the CJI remarked.Justice Kant recalled that when he was in the final year of law school, students were permitted to apply for judicial service examinations even before graduation. Around that period, however, the recruitment procedure underwent a major change following a Supreme Court ruling, pursuant to which high court judges were required to act as subject experts during interviews, with their views becoming binding on the Public Service Commission.By then, the future CJI had already started practising before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.“The senior-most judge who had been nominated for the interview panel already knew me because I had argued two matters before him,” Justice Kant said.One of those matters, he recalled, was a matrimonial dispute, in which the judge had allowed his appeal and set aside a divorce decree granted on the ground of schizophrenia.The same judge, Justice Kant narrated, had also seen the list of candidates appearing for the judicial services interview and knew that the young lawyer had applied.“One day, he called me into his chamber and asked, ‘Do you want to become a judicial officer?’ I said yes. He immediately said, ‘Get out from the chamber,’” the CJI recalled.The remark, he said, left him devastated.“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought I would become a judicial officer, and he had snubbed me like that,” Justice Kant told the courtroom.But the story took an unexpected turn the very next day.“The next day, he (the high court judge) again called me into his chamber. He said, ‘If you want to become, you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” the CJI recounted.Pausing briefly, Justice Kant emphasised: “These were the exact words he said -- ‘The Bar is waiting for you.’” The interaction, he said, altered the course of his professional life.“I came outside the chamber and decided not to go for the interview. I did not inform my parents because I knew they would get annoyed. After two or three months, I told some lie here and there and refused to go,” he said.Turning towards the petitioner, the first judge of the country and India’s 53rd Chief Justice then asked with a smile: “Now tell me, was my decision wrong or right?”As the courtroom broke into smiles, the CJI gently advised the petitioner not to insist on the present plea and instead attempt the higher judicial services examination in the future.“So don’t insist on this petition, next year appear for higher judicial services exam and all the best wishes,” he told her.Justice Kant began legal practice at Hisar District Court in 1984 before shifting to Chandigarh, where he built a flourishing practice before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, specialising in constitutional, service and civil law.In July 2000, at 38, he was appointed advocate general of Haryana, becoming the youngest person to hold the state’s top law office. He was designated a senior advocate the following year and elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2004.In October 2018, he was appointed chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court before his elevation to the Supreme Court in May 2019. In November last year, he took over as the CJI.